But First . . . a Brief History Lesson I don’t know about other states ” I’m only licensed to sell real estate in Minnesota ” but here, residential property taxes are due twice a year: May 15 and October 15. Those non-randomly chosen dates stretch back to when Minnesota’s economy ” like practically every...Read More
Negotiating is a crucial part of any deal, and lays the foundation for a clear, enforceable contract. Haggling is . . . an annoying waste of time. What’s the difference? Exactly two decimals. $10,000 vs. $100 So, a $10,000 item on a $250,000 house is the stuff of negotiation. A $100 item (or less) is haggling. (Note: accountants’...Read More
Novice Realtors Rush In Where Pro’s Fear to Tread “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” Realtors who don’t know the above rule — or forget it — soon get the opportunity to (re)learn it. That’s because negotiating the sale of personal property, particularly furniture, can be more challenging than dealing...Read More
Man Bites Dog ” Real Estate Edition One of the odder anecdotes from a continuing ed class the other week was the hapless home seller who got sued not because their house was haunted ” but because it wasn’t. Apparently, the Seller had disclosed in their Minnesota Seller’s Disclosure that the home had experienced “paranormal activity.”...Read More
When One Word (“PROPOSED House”) Looms Large Test your knowledge of encroachment issues, and see if you can detect a problem in the photo above. Give up? The northeast corner of the home on the pie-shaped lot clearly encroaches on the lot immediately to the east. Make that, the lot underneath the Minnetonka home my...Read More
Dual Agency Dilemma #17 Never having represented both the Buyer and Seller in the same transaction (I consider it a classic conflict of interest), one of the questions I have for agents who do act as dual agents is, “how do you navigate things like the Buyer’s walk-thru inspection? Provided for in the standard Minnesota Purchase...Read More
